


When Respect Escalates...

by BleuWaters



Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 15:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10924752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleuWaters/pseuds/BleuWaters
Summary: Hijikata Toushirou or Toshiro x reader. Detective work is so much fun. (Rated for the content of case)





	When Respect Escalates...

Early in your shift in the homicide division, you receive a call. Eight thirty in the morning, and there's already been a murder.

 

“Hijikata, we just got an emergency call from a frantic mother; there's been a break in. Her husband was shot and killed and her daughter was kidnapped. She was shot, too, but said she's not badly hurt,” you say swiftly, pulling your haori on, “I'm driving this one.”

 

“Yes, ma'am,” says Hijikata. He's new to this job, and this is his second case. His first was easy; the butler did it. He listens to you as his higher-up, and respects you as such.

 

You have yet to gain more than his polite civility.

 

“I don't have any details,” you say, taking long strides out of the building, your shoes crunching in the fresh snow, “Just the distress call. A patrol car is on the scene and they're securing it until we get there. The woman will be treated as soon as an ambulance gets there, and I'll have you gently question her. Give me the drill.”

 

“Drill?”

 

“Come on now, we've been over this before. Ask me the questions in the order you will ask her,” you explain, seating yourself in the car and starting the engine.

 

Hijikata clears his throat. “What happened? Then, did you see his face, has there been anyone strange hanging around, and when did you know someone was in the house?”

 

“Okay, good enough,” you say, looking over your shoulder as you pull out of the parking space, “So, Hijikata-kun, tell me more about yourself. We'll do an informal twenty questions. Do you live alone?”

 

“In an apartment building, yes. You?”

 

“In a broken-down old house, yes,” you say, “And I pay an excruciating rent.”

 

“...What do you do for fun?”

 

“Sleep,” you say, “Or watch tv dramas. You seem like an extremely serious person, Hijikata-kun. All work, no play?”

 

“For the most part. I don't have many friends to go out and do...friend things with,” replies the rookie, and you laugh.

 

“Neither do I,” you say, “It's hard to have much of a social life in this line of work.”

 

“Mm.”

 

“I guess I'm not as good at this game as I thought I would be. I can ask questions about brutal murders, but...normal questions are harder because there are boundaries that shouldn't be crossed and feelings that can get hurt,” you sigh, “I remember hearing a story one time about a detective that never said a word in his entire life. Supposedly one of the best that ever lived.”

 

“What’s his name?”

 

“Can't remember. Something dumb. He probably didn't exist.”

 

~o0o~

 

You arrive at the scene just before nine, and march into the house.

 

“Yamamoto-dono, I presume. I am Detective (full name), and this is my partner, Hijikata Toshiro. If you don't mind, we would like to have a look around,” you say gently, “Are you all right?”

 

“I'll live,” she replies, “I'm a nurse; I could take care of myself. Detective, will you find my baby?”

 

“I will do everything in my power, ma'am, I promise,” you say, “How old is your daughter?”

 

“Barely three.” The words have little time to leave her lips before she breaks down with weakening sobs. She attempts to apologize, to pull herself together, but you shake your head and draw her into your arms.

 

“No matter what happens, this is not the end of your story,” you whisper, “Did you see the man that did it?”

 

She nods, a trembling hand wiping her eyes when you pull away.

 

“It was my brother.”

 

~o0o~

 

“Hijikata-kun, give me thoughts,” you sigh, poking around in your hot ramen. Your chopsticks catch a piece of egg and you nibble on it.

 

“On what?”

 

“Motive!” you snap, slamming your fist on the counter. The egg goes flying and lands in the snow. You don't mean to be harsh, nor do you need to be, but your rookie partner is too helpless right now. Better to get him to do his job well and have him hate you than to baby him and have him follow you like a puppy the rest of your career.

 

Hijikata thinks for a moment, and speaks hesitantly. “Insanity?”

 

“Undoubtedly, but there needs to have been something, some inspiration behind the attack. And why would he kidnap the baby?”

 

“Jealousy? Um…” Hijikata digs around in his bowl, searching for a piece of beef beneath a mountain of mayonnaise. “I guess the husband-”

 

“Haruto-san.”

 

“-Yes, Haruto-san- offended the brother.”

 

“Watanabe.”

 

“Right.”

 

“We need to speak with Yamamoto-dono again. See if we can squeeze more information out of her. Maybe there was a money issue. Maybe Haruto-san was abusive. Maybe both Haruto-san and Yamamoto-dono were abusive to Hana-chan, the baby. There are so many possibilities in a case when you just start,” you mutter, stabbing into a piece of meat. Gracelessly, you gnaw on it, too preoccupied to care about etiquette.

 

“Right…” Hijikata nods, frowning. “Don't mind if I smoke, do you?”

 

“Thanks for asking because yes, I do,” you say briskly, standing up even though you haven't finished, “Smoke on your own time and destroy your own lungs; I'm aiming to live to a hundred.”

 

A ghost of a smile curls Hijikata’s lips and he stands to follow you.

 

~o0o~

 

“Hijikata-kun, you will answer your stinkin’ phone when I call you!” you shout into your cell, “It doesn't matter what time it is; you're my partner and you're a rookie and I expect you to prioritize your job above all else! Not like you have a family to take care of...Gosh.”

 

You end the voicemail at that and glare at your clock. Something about this case is getting under your skin and you can’t put your finger on it. You've dealt before with a kidnapping, but never one carried out by family.

 

The only lead you have is that a man fitting the description of the brother was seen purchasing diapers and a bottle of apple juice at a convenience store fifty miles away. A patrol car was sent out immediately, and hasn't radioed in yet. That was an hour ago, at four in the morning.

 

And Hijikata won't answer his phone.

 

You stand up and close your file of blood splatters and fingerprints, then pull your haori on, put a headband on, and leave your house to pick up Hijikata.

 

You practically break the door down when you get there.

 

“Honestly, kid,” you grumble, though the ‘kid’ is a year older than you, “What am I going to do with you? Just do me a favor and keep your phone on.” Really, you're never this sharp. This case has you on edge.

 

“Yes, ma'am.”

 

“And I'm not a ma'am!” you growl, “C'mon, let's see if we got news.”

 

“Ma'am, you're going to want to drive out here for yourself,” says the officer on patrol, his voice tinny over the car radio, “We've secured the area and the evidence and we have our guy. But there's no sign of the girl and he's not saying anything.”

 

“We're on our way,” you say, and you set your mouth in a firm line.

 

“Do you think she's dead?” questions Hijikata, twisting his hands in his lap. The hilt of his katana sits alongside his leg, and his hand goes to it, just to hold it.

 

“I think it's possible,” you reply, “But he wouldn't buy diapers for a dead toddler, would he?”

 

“He might.”

 

You frown, feeling a headache forming behind your eyes.

 

“He might.”

 

~o0o~

 

“Where's the girl?” Your voice is barely louder than a whisper, your (e/c) eyes reflecting the bright blue and red of the cop car lights.

 

“I don't know.”

 

“What do you mean, ‘you don't know’?” You draw yourself up and straighten your shoulders. “Did you kill her? Dump her body in the ditch?”

 

“She's my niece; how could I kill her?”

 

“You were pretty willing to kill her parents!!” you shriek, “Where is she!?”

 

“I don't know!!”

 

“Hijikata-kun, turn around,” you say, your voice taking on a dangerous calm.

 

“What? Why?” asks your partner.

 

“Do as I say and do it now,” you whisper. Reluctantly, he obeys, and a moment later he hears the dull thud of a punch and a horrified wail from the kidnapper. “You can turn around again.” He does, and sees the man cradling his cheek.

 

“She's crazy! She's crazy! This is police brutality!” he howls.

 

“Shut up,” you order, “Where is Hana-chan?”

 

“I killed her! I did, and threw her out the car window,” he bawls, and he reaches for you, “Don't tell my sister! Please don't tell my sister! She'll be heartbroken!”

 

“Don't touch me,” you mutter, pushing the man off of you, “Let's go find her, Hijikata-kun.”

 

“Right.” Hijikata looks down on the man, who, as a last ditch effort, looks up at him with pleading eyes. “Don't you dare.”

 

The two of you drive ten quiet minutes down the stretch of highway, both scanning the drifts on the sides of the road for her. You turn around a right-hand bend and gasp, two feet slamming on the brake, your arm flying out in front of your partner.

 

“Crap! Crap!!” you shout, “That's her, isn't it!?”

 

The car finally comes to a halt before it reaches the tiny girl standing in the middle of the road. She's screaming and naked, and her little body is bruised and bleeding. You and Hijikata leap from the car.

 

“Hi, baby,” you say gently, “It's okay, you're going to be okay.”

 

Hijikata shrugs his jacket off and wraps the girl up in it, not minding the tears, snot, and blood.

 

“Hold onto her; I'm going to call an ambulance,” you instruct, rushing back to the car.

 

“I'm no good with kids!” protests Hijikata, his hands on the child's waist to keep the garment from slipping off her.

 

“You don't have to be! Just hug her,” you say, grabbing your cell off the dash and dialing the emergency line.

 

As you give the information to the operator, Hijikata lifts the frightened toddler into his arms and tucks her chin against the junction of his neck and shoulder. His hand rubs gently over her back and, slowly, she begins to quiet, and her body relaxes as she falls asleep.

 

~o0o~

 

The case got worse before it was closed.

 

“Turns out Yamamoto was in on it,” growls Hijikata, throwing down two pieces of paper stapled together. They have the words of her confession of them. “Haruto-san had a massive life-insurance plan. Yamamoto made her brother shoot her to make it look like an attack, but Hana-chan was collateral damage that Yamamoto hadn't agreed to.”

 

“What the heck,” you sigh, lifting the corner of the top page, “Talk about evil.”

 

“What happens to Hana?”

 

“Orphanage.”

 

“Crap.”

 

“Yeah.” You take a breath. “Man, if I wasn't a detective, I would adopt her. But…such is life.”

 

Hijikata nods. “(Surname)-san, may I ask you something?”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Why did you tell me to look away from you when you punched Watanabe?”

 

You crack a grin. “Did I punch him?” you ask quizzically, tilting your head and lifting your eyebrows innocently.

 

It dawned on him; struck him right between the eyes.

 

You had protected him from witnessing the blow so that he will have nothing to say if Watanabe presses charges. So that it would be your word against Watanabe’s.So that you could get away with slugging the crook.

 

That was the exact moment he fell for you.


End file.
